WHO WERE THE THEATER GOERS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND? WHAT WAS AN AUDIENCE LIKE IN ELIZABETHAN THEATER? WHAT WAS A THEATRE-GOING EXPERIENCE LIKE FOR NOBILITY, MERCHANT CLASS, AND COMMONERS?
Derek Rott
Shakespeare worked in a time where the popularity of the theater was unprecedented, during the reigns of Elizabeth I, and James I. A constant demand for more works led to new, permanent theaters that would perform works, not only by Shakespeare, but by others like Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and many others, (from Mr. Leslie’s and Mr. Downer’s Essential Shakespeare Handbook). These new theaters replaced previous traveling bands that would tour across the country giving private performances or giving shows to crowds. But with the growing demand, public halls were introduced where bands would perform a wide variety of performances where viewers would pay for admission, says Mr. Leslie and Downer, authors of the Essential Shakespeare Handbook. Theatre districts soon popped up across London. It must have been an exciting experience, going to the Elizabethan Theater.
Let me paint a vivid picture of a standard indoor theater during that time period. Imagine a large wooden building, with a stage some 40 feet wide. Stage dimensions gathered from The Globe Restored; A stud of the Elizabethan Theatre by Walter Hodges. About 3000 other people are packed in around you: on the ground stand the common rabble, in the balcony sit the noble and wealthy, and up beside the stage are the royalty. Pickpockets are common; some hide in the crowd, cutting purses and whatnot; but a few brave ones would sneak into the balcony to take a chance at stealing a wealthy individual's more substantial possessions. Also in the crowd are women called "apple wives" who would wander about selling snacks, mainly apples. The poor, or "groundlings," around you stand on a bed of hazelnut shells, a common treat, drinking ale from pewter or wooden tankards. Prices of tickets would help separate the classes in the theater. There was specific price to each seat. The common groundlings, also called scarecrows would pay one penny to stand on the ground in front of the stage. For an extra penny, you could sit in the balcony, and three pennies would get you a seat in the gallery by the stage.
Theater itself was very different those days. For starters, there were no props or scenery other than the occasional torch, sword, and pot of pig's blood explain Mr. Leslie and Downer. Actors would sometimes notify the audience about a scene change, but nothing else. To quote one restoration expert questioned by Walter Hedges, author of The Globe Restored ". . . they were but plain and simple, with no scenes, or decorations on the stage, but only old tapestry. The stage was also strewed with rushes." The stage itself might have a trap-door as well; says Walter Hodges, author of The Globe Restored. Another difference is that there were no girls. Boys would play all of the women roles, explains Mr. Leslie and Downer. Like modern day celebrities and movie stars, a few performers became celebrities, their actions followed by the public.
Not only plays were preformed in Elizabethan Theater. Poetry as well as drama were preformed, but to avoid any plays that might provoke "civil unrest" a federal position called the Master of the Revels was instated to censor any material deemed seditious (Mr. Leslie and Downer). Still, Elizabethan theater was subject to propaganda hidden in plays. At the end of Queen Elizabeth’s life, playwrights were hopeful that the next ruler would be as partial to the theater as the Queen, as she was an avid enjoyer of the theater. They were put at ease when James I was crowned. He immediately offered patronage to the troupe as previously known Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a major acting troupe that Shakespeare greatly participated. This ushered in a new age of theater. Before, during the Elizabethan era, plays were mainly light hearted and optimistic. During the new Jacobean theater, performances were much more dark, moralizing and somber. Evidence of such is shown in how Shakespeare’s later plays were much darker, with themes of violence and evil overwhelming hope and love (Mr. L and Mr. D). This signified the end of a great era in theater, the Elizabethan age.
Top Left: This is a 3-D visual tour of the Foldger Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C.
Top Right: This six minute video pretty much sums up everything you need to know about Shakespeare and his legacy.
Bottom Left: This is a clip giving us a good idea of the Globe from a commoner's veiw. Taken in the reconstructed Globe in London.
Dunton-Downer, Leslie. Essential Shakespeare Handbook. New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2004. pgs. 24- 31. Print.
WHO WERE THE THEATER GOERS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND? WHAT WAS AN AUDIENCE LIKE IN ELIZABETHAN THEATER? WHAT WAS A THEATRE-GOING EXPERIENCE LIKE FOR NOBILITY, MERCHANT CLASS, AND COMMONERS?
Derek RottShakespeare worked in a time where the popularity of the theater was unprecedented, during the reigns of Elizabeth I, and James I. A constant demand for more works led to new, permanent theaters that would perform works, not only by Shakespeare, but by others like Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and many others, (from Mr. Leslie’s and Mr. Downer’s Essential Shakespeare Handbook). These new theaters replaced previous traveling bands that would tour across the country giving private performances or giving shows to crowds. But with the growing demand, public halls were introduced where bands would perform a wide variety of performances where viewers would pay for admission, says Mr. Leslie and Downer, authors of the Essential Shakespeare Handbook. Theatre districts soon popped up across London. It must have been an exciting experience, going to the Elizabethan Theater.
Let me paint a vivid picture of a standard indoor theater during that time period. Imagine a large wooden building, with a stage some 40 feet wide. Stage dimensions gathered from The Globe Restored; A stud of the Elizabethan Theatre by Walter Hodges. About 3000 other people are packed in around you: on the ground stand the common rabble, in the balcony sit the noble and wealthy, and up beside the stage are the royalty. Pickpockets are common; some hide in the crowd, cutting purses and whatnot; but a few brave ones would sneak into the balcony to take a chance at stealing a wealthy individual's more substantial possessions. Also in the crowd are women called "apple wives" who would wander about selling snacks, mainly apples. The poor, or "groundlings," around you stand on a bed of hazelnut shells, a common treat, drinking ale from pewter or wooden tankards. Prices of tickets would help separate the classes in the theater. There was specific price to each seat. The common groundlings, also called scarecrows would pay one penny to stand on the ground in front of the stage. For an extra penny, you could sit in the balcony, and three pennies would get you a seat in the gallery by the stage.
Theater itself was very different those days. For starters, there were no props or scenery other than the occasional torch, sword, and pot of pig's blood explain Mr. Leslie and Downer. Actors would sometimes notify the audience about a scene change, but nothing else. To quote one restoration expert questioned by Walter Hedges, author of The Globe Restored ". . . they were but plain and simple, with no scenes, or decorations on the stage, but only old tapestry. The stage was also strewed with rushes." The stage itself might have a trap-door as well; says Walter Hodges, author of The Globe Restored. Another difference is that there were no girls. Boys would play all of the women roles, explains Mr. Leslie and Downer. Like modern day celebrities and movie stars, a few performers became celebrities, their actions followed by the public.
Not only plays were preformed in Elizabethan Theater. Poetry as well as drama were preformed, but to avoid any plays that might provoke "civil unrest" a federal position called the Master of the Revels was instated to censor any material deemed seditious (Mr. Leslie and Downer). Still, Elizabethan theater was subject to propaganda hidden in plays.
At the end of Queen Elizabeth’s life, playwrights were hopeful that the next ruler would be as partial to the theater as the Queen, as she was an avid enjoyer of the theater. They were put at ease when James I was crowned. He immediately offered patronage to the troupe as previously known Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a major acting troupe that Shakespeare greatly participated. This ushered in a new age of theater. Before, during the Elizabethan era, plays were mainly light hearted and optimistic. During the new Jacobean theater, performances were much more dark, moralizing and somber. Evidence of such is shown in how Shakespeare’s later plays were much darker, with themes of violence and evil overwhelming hope and love (Mr. L and Mr. D). This signified the end of a great era in theater, the Elizabethan age.
Top Left: This is a 3-D visual tour of the Foldger Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C.
Top Right: This six minute video pretty much sums up everything you need to know about Shakespeare and his legacy.
Bottom Left: This is a clip giving us a good idea of the Globe from a commoner's veiw. Taken in the reconstructed Globe in London.
Dunton-Downer, Leslie. Essential Shakespeare Handbook. New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2004. pgs. 24- 31. Print.
Forward, Toby. Shakespeare's Globe; An Interactive Pop-Up Theater. Cambridge: Candelwick Press, Print.
Hodges, Walter. The Globe Restored; A Study of the Elizabethan Theater. New York: Coward- McCann, Inc., 1953. pg. 5. Print.
Shakespeare. New York: DK Publishers, 2004. pgs. 22, 44, 45. Print.